CBI Semifinals to be Played Wednesday

CBI Semifinals to be Played Wednesday

March 23, 2015
Contact: Ray Cella (rcella@gazellegroup.com), 609-921-1300

Loyola Chicago, ULM, Seattle, and Vermont each advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals in the eighth annual College Basketball Invitational.

In Burlington, Vt., Trae Bell-Haynes and Ethan O’Day scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, to lead Vermont to a 78-71 win over Radford.

Kurt Steidl tallied 12 points and Dre Wills added 11 for the Catamounts who were playing their first-ever postseason home game. Vermont (20-13) won the game at the foul line, outscoring Radford 21-13 while taking 20 more free throws.

Radford (22-12) was paced by Javonte Green’s 24-point, 15-rebound effort. R.J. Price added 13 points.

In Macon, Ga., ULM overcame a 42-27 halftime deficit to secure a 71-69 win over Mercer.

Taylor Ongwae led all scorers with 27 points for the Warhawks, who also received 14 points and 14 rebounds from Majok Deng and 11 points from Nick Coppola.

Defensively, ULM (23-12) held Mercer to just 24 percent shooting from the field in the second half in outscoring the Bears, 44-27.

Mercer (19-16) was led by Ike Nwamu, who had 20 points.

Jestin Lewis scored 12 points and Jibri Bryan added 10 points and eight rebounds.

In Chicago, Ill. Earl Peterson tallied 19 points, primarily on 11-of-11 shooting from the foul line, to pace Loyola Chicago to an 86-78 win over Oral Roberts.

Peterson’s performance from the line led the Ramblers, who ended the game 27-of-35, outscoring the Golden Eagles by 10 at the line. Montel James scored 17 points and Christian Thomas had 15 points for Loyola (21-13).

Oral Roberts (19-15) was led by Aaron Young’s career-high 26 points. Bobby Word had 22 and Obi Emegano added 10 points.

In Seattle, Wash., the host Redhawks overcame a nine-point second half deficit to defeat Colorado, 72-65.

Trailing 45-36 with 15:40 to play, Seattle closed the game on a 36-20 run to advance to the semifinals. Jarell Flora paced Seattle (18-15) with 22 points, while Isiah Umipig (20 points) and Jack Cook (10 points) also reached double digits.

Josh Scott led Colorado (16-18) with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

In Wednesday’s semifinals, ULM will host Vermont and Loyola Chicago will be home to Seattle. The winners will meet in the best-of-three Championship Series, which begins on Monday. The entire Championship Series will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Michael Reghi and John Griffin handling the announcing chores.

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